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Washoe superintendent accused of leaking confidential information; board sets meeting to discuss her employment

Jackie Valley
Jackie Valley
Education
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The Washoe County School Board of Trustees has called a special meeting to consider the future employment of the district’s superintendent, Traci Davis, who took an unexplained leave of absence this week.

Board President Katy Simon Holland posted an agenda for the special meeting at 8 a.m. July 1. The agenda item states that the board will consider “the character, alleged misconduct and/or professional competence and future” of Davis.

The school district released a statement Friday evening saying the board president notified Davis on June 13 that a special meeting would occur. Davis subsequently announced she was taking a leave of absence for personal reasons, officials said.

The board notified Davis again Friday about the special meeting based on evidence brought forward by multiple parties, district officials said. A letter sent Friday to Davis from the school district’s chief general counsel indicates the superintendent is accused of leaking confidential information about a workplace harassment investigation to other employees.

“You were also advised during the Investigation that confidential information appeared to be being leaked, which you denied any knowledge of,” the letter states. “All of this occurred under your supervision and to the detriment of the District.”

Simon Holland said in a statement that the board decided Davis’ “lack of timely response” regarding the situation merited discussion in an open meeting, where action could be taken.

“Our legal counsel hoped that discussions with Ms. Davis’ legal counsel would lead to a quick and reasonable outcome with Ms. Davis for the benefit of the District. I wanted to be respectful of her privacy and give her a few days to decide what she wanted to do in light of the substantial evidence, which the District had been given,” Simon Holland wrote. “However, during that personal leave of absence when the District was expecting a response, she and her legal counsel failed to comply with the most basic requests for a timely response, and it became clear that the District was possibly being harmed by their actions. At no time did the Board take any action or vote, in private or otherwise, regarding her employment.”

Simon Holland then defended her decision to not share specifics about the situation earlier this week given the legal discussions taking place.

“The District’s counsel discussed the issue with them hoping for resolution that would not harm the District,” she said in the statement. “District counsel has provided information to me which I feel shows a reasonable conclusion that at minimum was recklessly negligent supervision and gross misconduct on her part.”

Davis became superintendent in 2014 after two years serving as the deputy superintendent.

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